PTCOG64: ECR highlights
ECR workshop
PTCOG-64 marked a very important milestone for the ECR subcommittee: it hosted the first ever ECR workshop! The workshop was a success, proven by the clear interest and engagement of all attendees and the extremely positive feedback we got afterwards.
Coordinating with the Educational session, the full-day workshop took place on Tuesday and gave to the attendants the flexibility of roaming from the Educational Meeting to the Workshop at please, to attend the sessions they were most interested in. Reaching the maximum number of people registered (150!!), we are very happy with the attendance as the number of active attendees in the room has constantly been above 70 people. The sessions we prepared flew by at the speed of light, creating an informal and engaging environment that had everyone in the room hooked.
Even our invited guests, after their intervention, hung around for most of the workshop and seemed as engaged as the ECRs!
After a French-approved welcome breakfast, a brief introduction to the workshop and a fun lesson+survey combo on personalities that grouped the audience per personality-colour, the first session “Communicating Across Mentorship Styles: Building Effective Research Relationships”, panelled by Harald Paganetti, Antje Knopf, Tony Lomax and Suzie Sheehy, kicked off the workshop, giving important insights on a topic dear to everyone. Michael Story and Antje Knopf followed with two enlightening speeches for the session “Imposter Syndrome & Building Confidence in Research”. The morning was then concluded by the “Communicating Your Research with Purpose” session, where Simon Jolly, Luk Herremans, Suzie Sheehy and Stephanie Bolle highlighted the importance of shaping the communication action to the targeted audience giving useful practical tips on communicating for academia, industry, public and patients. The lunch worked as a restoring break where four groups were formed in preparation for the following “Research Pitch Competition”. The competition was the perfect combination of fun and takeaways. Unfortunately this was the least attended session, underscoring a very low competitiveness between particle therapy scientists. An unexpected price from IBA to the pitch unanimous winner made everyone else jealous: a LEGO model of IBA’s Proteus One Proton Therapy system!
After the pitch competition, the shyer ECRs joined back the workshop for the final session: “Making the Most of PTCOG: Presenting Yourself & Networking”. A panel discussion, guesting Marco Durante, Paige Taylor and Erik Engwall, was followed by a networking session coloured with refreshments and cheers. A fun ECR-Bingo was prepared to break the ice between attendees, but we were very happy to acknowledge it was not needed at all! Two meticulous attendees, though, successfully completed all BINGO’s tasks and will be featured in the PTCOG-ECR LinkedIn page very soon (stay tuned if you want to meet them)!
In this cheerful finale, the tireless operative group members who organised the workshop could finally relax and take a breath…what an experience!
Social event
This year’s ECR social event made the most of the beachside location, with some games to break the ice followed by drinks and plenty of time to chat. It was a relaxed and enjoyable way to get to know each other, exchange ideas, and share experiences about research, careers, and everything in between.
Plenary session
This year’s ECR plenary session, “From Innovation to Implementation – Mind the Gap”,explored the challenges that researchers and clinicians face when translating innovation into clinical practice.
A key message emerging from the discussion was the central role of communication in bridging this gap. Building teams that can communicate effectively both internally and across disciplines is essential to identify which innovations are truly needed and feasible, and to understand how different expertise can contribute to their successful implementation.
We would like to thank our ECR chairs, Elena Fogazzi and Jacinta Yap, and our speakers, Michele Kim, Matthew Lowe, and Giorgio Cartechini, for sharing their perspectives, experiences, and practical insights into the challenges of clinical translation.
The takeaway is simple: keep communicating, keep exchanging, and keep building bridges between research and clinical practice.
Mentor lunches
For the third year in a row, the ECR lunch events returned at the PTCOG meeting with two dedicated sessions. One lunch brought together ECRs and representatives from different PTCOG subcommittees, offering a chance to learn more about their activities and about the different ways (young) researchers can contribute to the wider PTCOG community. The second focused on non-traditional career paths in particle therapy, creating an informal space for discussion and exchange with more experienced colleagues. Sharing experiences, challenges, and successes helps us learn from one another and strengthens the sense of community that connects ECRs across the field!
